While reading one of my favorite columns in The New York Times—Tara Parker Pope’s invaluable “Well Blog”—I came across some important information on fighting germs, always useful during cold and flu season. It turns out that we don’t have to worry about using hot water when we wash our hands. I had always turned the water to just below scalding, thinking I was wiping out more germs that way. But the high water temp that would be needed to kill the germs would also burn our skin. Best to use tepid water—though not cold water since it fails to remove bacteria-harboring oils. What matters most is time spent actually washing. They say a good rule of thumb is to wash for the time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song. Also, be careful to wash the entire hand–between the fingers, on top, and so on. Those pesky germs can travel around. [Read more…]